go2China*-new update
(04-04-2023) I am reporting back: this card is decent. It worked on my iPhone 5 (initially I put the new sim card in this old phone), after I turned it off and back on when the airplane just landed. I quickly swap it into my iPhone 12 on the subway (Metro line 2 from PVG to SHA, and I stayed at hotel near SHA, Hongqiao Hub). A student with Tufts U was able to make call to her dad as her sim card was expired. This card is called 蜗牛移动 4G in China (a resller of China Unicom 中国联通）. I am guessing it’s small reseller: the idea here is similar to MintMobile vs T-Mobile in the US (mintMobile is a reseller of T-mobile). There was one glitch when I was trying to get 随申码（英语：Shanghai QR Code) at SJTU Minghang campus. The guard said probably my internet on the phone was too slow. It took me quote a few tries to get it work. There are one glitch: no caller ID (and I don’t know how to fix it). Another tip is don’t worry about the “warning message” in Chinese regarding data usage. It will ask one to 充值，I did not read the descriptions on Amazon. But I just trust the title or subject that says 30 days 3G data. So I just ignore the periodically message asking me to refill. As I don’t see the internet stop working after the “data used up” message.
(Above: Amazon associate link for the China Unicom 中国联通 sim 30 day card)
We know phone/smartphone is a necessity nowadays for our daily lives – this is true when traveling in China too. This is especially true in terms of mobile pay, e.g., local KFC expect 90% of the customers pay via #AliPay or #WeChat Pay, or China #UnionPay (contactless). Below the registration has a small hiccup, basically it needs a bigger than 1M size for the sim card photo. The web page didn’t like when I uploaded a smaller size photo, and didn’t say explicitly what went wrong. Once the registration is successful from that website, they will send a confirmation email. I guess they probably use the information we provided to manually activate inside China. Note in China everyone needs to register her/his real name with the mobile carrier. Below is also an Amazon associate link for the SIM card. I will report back about the card once I used it in China.
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03-13-2023: below information may be slightly out of date, I will review and update when time allows.
Air tickets and Tips
flyChina
Note this update from FlyChina: this is helpful especially considering the new normal post pandemic, fewer flights, more paperwork etc.
Hotels
Hotels I stayed/plan to stay in recent years
Courtyard Shanghai Xujiahui
Ctrip.com
homeinns
Jinjiang Inn
Stuff about China
最牛的万人中学：安徽省六安市毛坦厂中学（因复读出名）
Nicholas Carson: Screw China
Ted Koppel/Discovery: People’s Republic of Capitalism
Xi Dan Girl (Ren Yue Li)CCTV Spring Festival Gala 2010, Feb 13 2010
Two programs I like and reminds me of the old times…
Xiao Hu Dui (Team Little Tigers)
Wang Fei “Legend”
Parade 01Oct2009
From YouTube.
Pretty nice, huh?
Chinese dance
2008 CCTV Spring Festival Gala “Fly”
2007 CCTV Spring Festival Gala “Xiao Cheng Xu Xiang” (Dancing in Rain)
Another version (looks better)
Songs known to generation Y (people born in 1980s; I think those songs are familiar to Gen X too)
Sandy Lin (Li Yi Lian) “Ai Shang Yi Ge Bu Hui Jia De Ren”
Chen Shu Hua “Tiao Wu Jie”
Sichuan (5/12/2008) Earthquake Donations
- Wikipedia: Sichuan Earthquake
- Baidu: 百度汶川地震专题
- Help the survivors: Donate now